• Maypole •

Meaning: A tall pole that stands in the center of town or that is erected annually, around which people dance on May 1st. Traditionally, the top of the pole contains flowers and draped from its pinnacle are many ribbons or flower chains. The dance involves a circle of alternating boys and girls who dance in opposite directions while holding the ribbons, braiding the ribbon down the pole. In some Germanic countries the ribbons are omitted or are painted on the pole, which is also decorated with flowers, flags, and other local symbols.

Notes: The Maypole and the Maypole dance go far back into Germanic pagan history. Both were part of the celebration of the Celtic holiday Beltane at the beginning of Celtic summer, which lasted until Samhain, November 1. The dance, the pole, and the virgin selected as May Queen to walk in front of the May Day procession—all originated in pagan fertility rites that may go back to the ancient Babylonians.

In Play: The erection of the Maypole on May 1st is aptly named since many consider it a male symbol that is, in the course of the dance, covered with feminine flowers and ribbons. May Day more recently, of course, has been preempted by the socialist parties around the world as International Labor Day, and is celebrated as such in most countries.

Word History: The first of today's two Good Words is May, the name of the month. It comes from the name of the Roman goddess of spring, Maia. Simple enough: May Day celebrates the return of spring. The goddess's name is based on a root responsible for English majesty, from Latin maiestas "greatness, authority", as well as major and mayor. The root of Maia's name is probably related to English may and might. It certainly is shared by the Sanskrit word maha(t) "great" found in maharaja "great king", mahatma "great spirit" (Gandhi), and maharishi "great seer".

Maypole has such a pleasant ring. But if spring came in February instead of May... well, never mind.

My researches (a few key strokes to Wikipedia) show "some scholars classify maypoles as symbols of the world axis (axis mundi)." At the axis mundi heaven and earth are said to intersect. I have had the opportunity to vist a modern evocation of the axis mundi-- the Taipei 101 Buliding in Taiwan. Somewhat disappointingly, I did not see any Taiwanese children romping merrily around the tower while they towed multi-colored ribbons suspended from the 101st floor. But maybe if I returned on May 1st...

Last edited by MTC on Wed May 01, 2013 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Here's an answer to the general question by someone online who apparently knows what he is talking about:

"I'd keep the capital in almost all cases where the adjective is derived from someone's name. Witness Jeffersonian vs Hamiltonian democracy, Rabelaisian humour, Juvenalian satire, Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnets, Rubenesque women, Shavian wit, and the lines in My Fair Lady: 'She'll have a large, Wagnerian mother / With a voice that shatters glass!'"

MTC wrote:...As for the high-toned "axis mundi," just give it a spin and "phallic symbol" turns up.

Debased mind or not I've always associated the axis mundi phrase more with the feminine, remembering the Greek omphalos or navel 'point of beginning' (not that I have any general knowledge of Greek). I can see why you would go phallic if getting there from Maypole though.

I do remember my own Maypole dancing days with great fondness in any case. Simple, happy times, wheeling around with classmates.

Cerebrating about the meaning of a sexually-charged word like "maypole" really misses the mark, doesn't it? (Sunday Schoolers should debark the bus here.) The ancients must have churned with sexual energy as they emerged from a dark, bone-chilling winter, knowing they might not live to see another spring in their short, forty odd years on the planet. Time to join with all creation and bloom! Ecstasy doesn't translate particularly well on the page. Luckily for me, I've had my share, and lived to tell about it.

Oh, I was serious. But not in a way to be discourteous -our Spring is terrible. Had 3 inches of snow a coupledays ago, when we are supposed to be in the 70's.Temp is 37 right now. Tulips look weird with snowall around them.

Of course we have had lots of rain and it has helpeddecrease the drought we have been in since last yearat this time. We were in D4 last year, now where Ilive it is D0, and hopefully we are out of drought forawhile: